


Statement #0886328: Afraid of the Dark

by angrybluecactus



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Archivist Jonathan Sims, Darkness, Statement Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-18
Updated: 2019-11-18
Packaged: 2021-02-12 17:57:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21480508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angrybluecactus/pseuds/angrybluecactus
Summary: Statement of Hannah Polaski, regarding an unnatural darkness they experience while out with their dog.
Kudos: 10





	Statement #0886328: Afraid of the Dark

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first attempt at a tma type statement! Grammar won't be perfect so go easy on me! Please enjoy!

Statement of Hannah Polaski, regarding an experience they had while on a walk with their dog. Statement originally written October 25th 2015. Recording by Jonathan Sims, Head Archivist at the Magnus Institute London. Statement begins…   
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I wasn’t used to going out at night. I mean like out on walks or being out somewhere that wasn’t a friends house or bar or school. And then we got a dog so naturally that came with some daily schedule adjusting. Walks at whatever time he needed to go out.  
I love my dog, don’t get me wrong. He’s a menace but I love him to bits and so I figured night walks weren’t going to be that big a deal. He needed the walks regardless of how we felt. He’s one of those dogs that needs lots of exercise or else the house become a flurry of pillow stuffing and torn carpet. So he got three walks a day, usually for 25 to 30 minutes, longer if it was warmer out, shorter if it was colder. 

I sound like one of those crazy dog parents who plans their dogs day out for them as if it was a kid. I’m not, I swear. I just like having Ross on a walk schedule because the structure is good and I can plan my day around it if need be. Anyway, night walks were something I only partly stressed out about. Like I said I’m not used to going for walks at night in the dark. It wasn’t like we lived in a bad neighborhood. And actually ours was one of the safest in the area, so it wasn’t like I was worried about getting mugged or anything like that. I was actually much more scared about going out at night when I was at university. But the dark always freaked me out a little.   
I know it’s the most primal of fears blah blah but the dark is scary. I’m in my twenties and I still sleep with some sort of small light on in my room. As far as the walks, I had a flashlight and Ross had one of those little blinking lights attached to his collar so that passing cars and bikers could see him. I wasn’t overly worried...at first. 

Night walks started fine, the sun setting at 5 o'clock when Ross had dinner then half an hour later someone would take him out. I live with my parents and we all share walk responsibilities. If I wasn’t working that evening, I’d take Ross out. Everything was fine the first few weeks of October, I’d walk with my flashlight out even though there were street lights on. They’d cast that warm orangey glow every few yards, casting everything out of the light in twisting shadows. It was creepy, yeah. But it was fine. Ross was the kind of dog that if someone even thought about approaching in the dark, I’d know immediately. 

But I remember this night as standing out. It wasn’t a normal night out and I’m still not sure what happened or what I saw. But I’ll never forget it.   
Me and Ross were on our usual route around the neighborhood. There’s these two twin ponds that have a path running parallel. It’s all paved, well lit. The ponds aren’t big, I could...usually see across them to the houses lining the opposite end. But that night was...different. Ross was sniffing around the fence that lined one side of the path and I happened to look across the water and noticed just how dark everything was. It was strange. The street lights usually did a good job illuminating everything down the path since it was so heavily traveled by walkers. But that night...the shadows looked a little too dark. A little too large. I couldn’t see the houses at the other end of the ponds. It was like the street lights were being blocked by something? The shadows stretched over the still pond water. Making it look even more like an abyss. It freaked me out to say the least. I tugged on Ross’s leash to keep walking, wanting to finish our route and head home as quickly as possible. But the dark...continued all the way down the length of the first and second pond, obscured in unnatural shadow. I actually started shivering then even though it wasn’t even that cold out.   
We got past the second pond and exited onto the neighborhood sidewalks to head home. I kept turning my head to look at the darkness disappearing behind us. At that point, I just chalking it up to paranoia and the light playing with my eyes.   
We kept walking. Past dark houses, only leaves rustling and the sounds of our breathing. Ross stopped a few times to sniff at trees and pee in the grass and it was only after the third time we stopped that I decided to look back behind us. And my stomach dropped. 

All the houses and all trees and gardens and mailboxes and sidewalk behind us were swallowed by that endless, spreading darkness. The street lights were on, I knew they were. We had just walked past them seconds ago but now they were ...gone. Swallowed by nothingness like everything else behind us. I still had my flashlight in my hand and I slowly lifted it to aim it into the darkness. The light didn’t reach, it was just swallowed up. Like everything else. It was a strong flashlight too, but it was useless against whatever...this was. It wasn’t just dark either. It was like a solid mass of nothing. Not just a lack of light but a lack of everything ...just an empty space where matter and sound and light went to die. I heard Ross growl beside me. He was rigid, all his fur stood up on end. His teeth were bared at the darkness before us. I didn’t need any more warning than that. 

I tightened my grip on Ross’s leash and took off at a run down the street. It must have looked insane. This person sprinting down the street with a dog in the dead of October. I didn’t look back as I took a hard left onto another street and continued that frantic pace until we reached my street and I had to stop to catch my breath. Ross was panting and staring at me. I pat his head and turned my head slowly to see if...whatever dark shadow was following us had gone. And it had. Behind me was just normal, streetlight illuminated suburban streets. A car even drove by and continued down the road like normal. It was fine. I kept walking until we reached home, my hands were shaking so bad I could barely punch in the garage key to let us in. 

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Statement ends. 

I would normally dismiss this statement as the paranoia of someone just being startled by the dark. Miss Polaski themselves admitted to being a little wary of the dark. But being a little nervous about the dark and this experience seem different. As there were no other witnesses and I can’t exactly ask the dog to corroborate this statement, that’s the end of that. 

End recording.


End file.
